Speak of you, sir? You bet he did. Ben Fields was far too sound
\nTo go back on a fellow just because he weren\u2019t around.
\nWhy, sir, he thought a lot of you, and only three months back
\nSays he, \u201cThe Squire will some time come a-snuffing out our track
\nAnd give us the surprise.\u201d And so I got to thinking then
\nThat any day you might drop down on Rove, and me, and Ben.
\nAnd now you\u2019ve come for nothing, for the lad has left us two,
\nAnd six long weeks ago, sir, he went up beyond the blue.<\/p>\n
Who\u2019s Rove? Oh, he\u2019s the collie, and the only thing on earth
\nThat I will ever love again. Why, Squire, that dog is worth
\nMore than you ever handled, and that\u2019s quite a piece, I know.
\nAh, there the beggar is!\u2014come here, you scalawag! and show
\nYour broken leg all bandaged up. Yes, sir, it\u2019s pretty sore;
\nI did it,\u2014curse me,\u2014and I think I feel the pain far more
\nThan him, for somehow I just feel as if I\u2019d been untrue
\nTo what my brother said before he went beyond the blue.<\/p>\n
You see, the day before he died he says to me, \u201cSay, Ned,
\nBe sure you take good care of poor old Rover when I\u2019m dead,
\nAnd maybe he will cheer your lonesome hours up a bit,
\nAnd when he takes to you just see that you\u2019re deserving it.\u201d
\nWell, Squire, it wasn\u2019t any use. I tried, but couldn\u2019t get
\nThe friendship of that collie, for I needed it, you bet.
\nI might as well have tried to get the moon to help me through,
\nFor Rover\u2019s heart had gone with Ben, \u2018way up beyond the blue.<\/p>\n
He never seemed to take to me nor follow me about,
\nFor all I coaxed and petted, for my heart was starving out
\nFor want of some companionship,\u2014I thought, if only he
\nWould lick my hand or come and put his head aside my knee,
\nPerhaps his touch would scatter something of the gloom away.
\nBut all alone I had to live until there came a day
\nWhen, tired of the battle, as you\u2019d have tired too,
\nI wished to heaven I\u2019d gone with Ben, \u2018way up beyond the blue.<\/p>\n
. . . . .<\/p>\n
One morning I took out Ben\u2019s gun, and thought I\u2019d hunt all day,
\nAnd started through the clearing for the bush that forward lay,
\nWhen something made me look around\u2014I scarce believed my mind\u2014
\nBut, sure enough, the dog was following right close behind.
\nA feeling first of joy, and than a sharper, greater one
\nOf anger came, at knowing \u2019twas not me, but Ben\u2019s old gun,
\nThat Rove was after,\u2014well, sir, I just don\u2019t mind telling you,
\nBut I forgot that moment Ben was up beyond the blue.<\/p>\n
Perhaps it was but jealousy\u2014perhaps it was despair,
\nBut I just struck him with the gun and broke the bone right there;
\nAnd then\u2014my very throat seemed choked, for he began to whine
\nWith pain\u2014God knows how tenderly I took that dog of mine
\nUp in my arms, and tore my old red necktie into bands
\nTo bind the broken leg, while there he lay and licked my hands;
\nAnd though I cursed my soul, it was the brightest day I knew,
\nOr even cared to live, since Ben went up beyond the blue.<\/p>\n
I tell you, Squire, I nursed him just as gently as could be,
\nAnd now I\u2019m all the world to him, and he\u2019s the world to me.
\nLook, sir, at that big, noble soul, right in his faithful eyes,
\nThe square, forgiving honesty that deep down in them lies.
\nEh, Squire? What\u2019s that you say? He\u2019s got no soul? I tell you, then,
\nHe\u2019s grander and he\u2019s better than the mass of what\u2019s called men;
\nAnd I guess he stands a better chance than many of us do
\nOf seeing Ben some day again, \u2018way up beyond the blue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"menu_order":6,"template":"","meta":{"pb_show_title":"on","pb_short_title":"","pb_subtitle":"","pb_authors":[],"pb_section_license":""},"chapter-type":[48],"contributor":[],"license":[],"class_list":["post-151","chapter","type-chapter","status-publish","hentry","chapter-type-numberless"],"part":136,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/151","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/chapter"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/251"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/151\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":344,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/151\/revisions\/344"}],"part":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/parts\/136"}],"metadata":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapters\/151\/metadata\/"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=151"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"chapter-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/pressbooks\/v2\/chapter-type?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"contributor","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/contributor?post=151"},{"taxonomy":"license","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pressbooks.library.torontomu.ca\/flintandfeather\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/license?post=151"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}